Light rigid mandrel able to engage paper or fibre tubes

ABSTRACT

A light rigid mandrel able to engage paper or fibre tubes so as to overcome the deflection of the tubes and prevent bunching of fabric as well as greatly reduce the damage generally caused by gripping. The mandrel comprises a tubular high strength aluminum body rigidly held under compression . The tubular aluminum body is provided with a deformable material able to engage an inner part of the paper or fibre tubes, so that light and inexpensive paper tubes could be used successfully for the first time.

LIGHT RIGID MANDREL ABLE TO ENGAGE PAPER OR FIBRE TUBES [75] Inventor:Josef Sykora, Drummondville,

Quebec, Canada [73] Assignee: Celanese Canada Limited, Montreal,

Quebec, Canada [22] Filed: June I, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 258,647

[52] US. Cl. 242/72 [51] Int. Cl. B65h 75/24 [58] Field of Search242/72, 68, 68.2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,903,200 9/1959 McDougall242/72 X 1,878,264 9/1932 Clayboum 242/72 2,066,659 1/1937 Templeton242/72 2,638,282 5/1953 Prevost 242/72 [451 Dec. 25, 1973 FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,102,659 2/1968 Great Britain 242/72 PrimaryExaminer-George F. Mautz Assistant Examiner-Edward J. McCarthyAtt0rneyThomas J. Morgan et al.

[ 5 7 ABSTRACT A light rigid mandrel able to engage paper or fibre tubesso as to overcome the deflection of the tubes and prevent bunching offabric as well as greatly reduce the damage generally caused bygripping. The mandrel comprises a tubular high strength aluminum bodyrigidly held under compression The tubular aluminum body is providedwith a deformable material able to engage an inner part of the paper orfibre tubes, so that light and inexpensive paper tubes could be usedsuccessfully for the first time.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENIEU nan 25 m5 SHEET 10F 2 k NMQ w-LIGHT RIGID MANDREL ABLE TOJENGAGE PAPER OR FIBRE TUBES tubes has tolimit his inventory to a minimum and this reduces freedom.

Paper tubes have been tried, but the gripping arrangements of theconventional mandrels on the tube rapidly damage the interior of thesetubes and also tapered sleeves or conically shaped inserts which engageat each .end of'the interior of the tubes. These inserts are slidablymounted on a large metallic rod which runs within the tube and serves tosupport it. Other conventional mandrels employ a gripping bar pressedinto the tube. In either case, due to the high contact pressure of 300to 1,000 psi, the paper tubes are soon damaged and have to be discarded.

There has now been provided a light, rigid mandrel able to engage paperor fibre tubes so as to substantially overcome the deflection of tubesand prevent bunching of fabric as well as greatly reduce the damagegenerally caused by gripping.

Broadly stated there has now been found a light mandrel for grippingtubes, said mandrel comprising a tubular high strength aluminum bodyrigidly held under compression, said tubular aluminum body provided witha deformable material able to engage an inner part of a tube, so thatlight and inexpensive paper tubes could be used.

Preferably a plurality of elements having high tensile strength exert acompressive force along the longitudinal axis of the tubular body, saidelements being equally spaced so as to exert said compressive forceuniformly and thereby reduce considerably the deflection in said tubularbody.

Still in a preferred embodiment there is provided a light mandrel forgripping tubes comprising:

a. a tubular body made of high strength aluminum having end portions,

b. said end portions provided with means to receive a plurality of hightensile strength elements,

c. a plurality of high tensile strength elements to compress uniformlysaid tubular body along its longitudinal axis,

(1. at least one of said end portions comprising a recess to receive asleeve of deformable incompressible elastic material and compressingring to outwardly actuate said deformable material,

e. means to actuate said compressing ring. By elastic is meantsubstantially able to return to its original shape.

Referring now to the drawings which illustrate embodiments of theinvention:

FIG. 4 is a view of acrank of the type that can be used to engagedeformable material against -a tube.

Referring now to FIG. 1 the mandrel comprises a tubular aluminum bodyhaving end portions 12 and 14. A plurality of tension rods 16 providedwith threaded couplings 18 are first tightened in the end portion 14.The threaded couplings 18 have a noncircular configuration: generallysquare so as to be locked in a key plate 20, better shown on FIG. 2. Inthis manner, when bolts 22 are tightened under high torque the threadedcouplings 18 are prevented from rotating. The key plate is itself heldbetween roll pins 24 which act as stoppers and a cement 26. The rods are6 FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a mandrel. 5

FIG. 2 is a view taken along line 2 2 of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a view takenalong line 3 3 of FIG. 1.

under high tensile stress to reduce considerably the 'deflection of thetubular body 10. A removable sleeve 28 is locked on the end portion 12so as to define a male configuration which will snuggly fit into thefemale configuration of a loom. This sleeve 28 is removable for accessto bolts 22.

The end portion 14 is provided with a recess 14a for a rubber sleeve orfor other suitable deformable equivalents 30 able to frictionally lock atube 32 by means of a compression ring 34 slidably mounted on the recess14a, to radially deform the rubber sleeve on moving towards it.

Within the end portions 14 of the mandrel, a housing is provided toreceive a slidable cylinder 42. A screw 44 joins the exterior of the endportion 14 to the top of the cylinder 42. The top of the screw 44 isitself shaped to receive a crank 45 of the type shown in FIG. 4.

The cylinder 42 is joined to the compression ring 34 by roll pins 46,always urged against screw 44 by biasing means such as spring 48 heldwithin a recess 42a of the cylinder, a flat washer 50 and retaining ring52. End portion 14 is provided with a collar 54 having a shoulder 54aacting as a stopper for the paper tube 32. The collar 54 is secured toend portion 14. by roll pins 56, which at the same time serve totransmit the driving torque from the loom to the mandrel.

Paper tube 32 is centered by centering ring 60, mounted on the tubularaluminum body 10 and strengthened within the tube by a spacer disc 62,better shown in FIG. 3 and both are held by common roll pins 64. Anothercentering ring 66 is also mounted on the tubular aluminum body 10 andheld by the roll pins 24.

As is easily seen the various components or elements are limited tominimize the weight and structure and like roll pins 24 and 64 theseelements have as far as possible dual functions. The same applies to theend portion 14 shaped to serve as support for the tube 32.

OPERATION This mandrel is a device which makes it possible to windfabric under tension on low cost paper tubes directly on the loom. Apaper tube 32 is slid over the mandrel and one clockwise turn of screw44 with crank 45 generally locks the paper tube 32 to the mandrel.Similarly, one clockwise turn will generally free the paper tube 32.

EXAMPLE The following example will serve to illustrate embodiments ofthe invention:

Fabric was taken up directly from looms on paper tubes driven by amandrel such as shown on the drawings. These tubes were transferred tothe main plant and either used to form batch rolls or stored as receivedin warehouses. Due to the low cost of paper tubes, a generous supply wasmade.

Previously the fabric had to be taken-up on stainless steel cloth rollsand rewound on shells to form large diameter batch rolls for immediateprocessing or rewound on paper tubes for storage. Due to their highcost, stainless steel cloth rolls were limited in number, empty rollshad to be returned quickly.

Also in accordance with thepresent invention, the uniformly distributedlow contact pressure exerted by the deformed rubber sleeve on a largercontact area, for instance of the order of about 50 psi, on the insideof the paper tube is sufficient to transmit, without slippage, thetorque required for winding fabric under tension ranging up to 200 lbs.This low contact pressure is causing the least possible damage to thepaper tubes and they can be re-used over and over again.

OTHER USES a plurality of high tensile strength rods positioned in theend portions so as to exert a compressive force along the longitudinalaxis of the tubular body,

a deformable material positioned in the recess of the end portion,

means to deform radially outward said deformable material, and

a plurality of centering rings positioned on the tubular body.

2. The mandrel of claim 1 wherein the deformable material is a sleeve ofdeformable incompressible elastic material and the deforming meanscomprises a compressing ring and a screw operatively connected to saidcompressing ring.

3. The mandrel of claim 1 wherein the deforming means comprises acompressing ring, a piston slidably mounted within the recess-bearingend portion and connected to said compressing ring, a screw operativelyconnected to said piston whereby the screw, on being actuated, exerts onthe piston a pressure enabling displacement of the compressing ringwhich deforms radially outward the deformable incompressible elasticmaterial.

4. The mandrel of claim 1 which further comprises at least one spacerdisc positioned inside the tubular body.

5. The mandrel of claim 4 wherein said spacer disc is connected to acentering ring.

6. The mandrel as defined in claim 3 which further includes biasingmeans for urging said piston against said screw.

1. A light weight mandrel for engaging winding tubes comprising atubular aluminum body having end portions adapted to receive andposition tension rods therebetween, at least one of said end portionsadditionally having a recessed area thereon, a plurality of high tensilestrength rods positioned in the end portions so as to exert acompressive force along the longitudinal axis of the tubular body, adeformable material positioned in the recess of the end portion, meansto deform radially outward said deformable material, and a plurality ofcentering rings positioned on the tubular body.
 2. The mandrel of claim1 wherein the deformable material is a sleeve of deformableincompressible elastic material and the deforming means comprises acompressing ring and a screw operatively connected to said compressingring.
 3. The mandrel of claim 1 wherein the deforming means comprises acompressing ring, a piston slidably mounted within the recess-bearingend portion and connected to said compressing ring, a screw operativelyconnected to said piston whereby the screw, on being actuated, exerts onthe piston a pressure enabling displacement of the compressing ringwhich deforms radially outward the deformable incompressible elasticmaterial.
 4. The mandrel of claim 1 which further comprises at least onespacer disc positioned inside the tubular body.
 5. The mandrel of claim4 wherein said spacer disc is connected to a centering ring.
 6. Themandrel as defined in claim 3 which further includes biasing means forurging said piston against said screw.